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Excitement over products like the Ouya, nVidia's Shield line, and even numerous gamepads proves that gaming on Android has entered the mainstream. Developers have been jumping at the opportunity to build games that work across many of the different operating systems; and thanks to the Cross-Platform SDK, they're able to integrate most of the Play Games services into their products on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Until now, this SDK has lagged behind the SDKs for Android and iOS on one specific feature: real-time multiplayer support. As of today, Google is rectifying this oversight and making a number of other improvements with updates to the Play Games SDKs, along with some new features in the Google Play Developer Console.
Material Design was the driving force behind a Google+ update that began rolling out on Friday. But while there may be a newer look, there's very little to speak of in the department of functional changes. Naturally, I had to poke around to see if there were any surprises buried underneath the fresh coat of paint. As it turns out, there are a few things worth talking about. It's time for a Teardown!
If you practically live out of your car like I do, there are probably cables loosely hanging from just about every outlet, and at least a couple awkwardly laying across the passenger seat. Even if you're not sporting a ride with a Bluetooth-enabled stereo, you can get rid of at least one cable by adding your own car kit to the mix. You could already get the GOgroove SMARTmini AUX Bluetooth Audio Receiver Car Kit for just $24.99 from Amazon, but now you can also knock another $5 off with a coupon code at checkout.
Google is making the best of allowing enthusiasts and 3rd-party developers early access to the next release of Android, and the result will be a less buggy release when L finally hits the grand stage. While new issues are reported each day, there's a lot of progress showing up on the Issue Tracker. Just yesterday, a burst of 18 bugs were marked as 'fixed,' following a 2-week gap without any obvious activity.
Camping season is pretty much over for most of us, but that doesn't mean we've stopped leaving the comfort of our homes to venture into the great unknown. One thing we've got to be sure of is that our bevy of gadgets can survive between sessions with their charging cables. If you'd like to keep your phone, tablet, and assorted wearables alive and kicking, Amazon is offering a pretty sweet deal on the Anker Astro E5 15000mAh Dual USB Portable Charger. With coupon code AASTROE5, you can pick up this portable powerhouse for just $32.99 (plus tax and shipping).
If there's one thing that Amazon has earned a positive reputation for among Android users, it has got to be the sheer number of paid apps that have been freely passed out as part of the company's numerous promotions. For today only, we've got another great giveaway to add to the online retailer's extensive history. There are 27 paid apps available at no cost to users in the US, and there's no reason you shouldn't have already started claiming them! By my calculation, the total retail price of these apps comes out to a whopping $173.20.Note: This appears to be available in multiple countries (at least the US and Portugal -- thanks jm). The same deal was available in Australia yesterday, and it seems to have gone into wide availability today. If it's not there for your country, try to check back tomorrow.
This particular promotion doesn't seem to have a specific theme, but that has never stopped Amazon in the past. As you might expect, about half of the list is made up of apps that have been given away in the past, while the rest are joining the ranks for the first time. If you're visiting Amazon's promo page, be sure to click the link to see "all included apps," or you might miss out on some of the freebies available in today's selection. On the other hand, you can just click through the links below to hit each of the apps directly.
There are those who want to make their Moto 360 as elegant as possible. Some prefer to be a bit silly. But for those who want to demonstrate just how gutsy they can get, there's nothing like showing off the heart and soul of your gear. If this sounds like you, Circuit Wear for the Moto 360 might be your next watch face. What you're looking at is a photo of the circuit board lodged a mere couple of millimeters behind the screen, and it really is pretty neat.
Much to the chagrin of cell carriers and hardware manufacturers, there are still many in the Android community that choose to delve into the world of hacking and modding their phones. Owners of the Verizon Moto G are certainly in this crowd, and they've been eagerly awaiting a reliable method for unlocking their bootloaders. It turns out that their wait ends today. Sunshine, a tool built by Justin Case, Beaups, and others to unlock HTC and Motorola phones, just gained support for the Moto G on Verizon.
A couple of days ago, Google began rolling out the latest version of its Play services apk to the massive audience of Android users around the world. This is a particularly special release for developers because it finally expands coverage of the Google Fit Preview SDK to those who either don't have a Nexus 5 or 2013 Nexus 7, or simply aren't willing to flash the last L Preview firmware onto them. Unfortunately, the public list of changes is practically devoid of anything for regular users beyond some minor visual updates to the Drive file picker. Don't feel down, Google may not have opened the door on any big features for the public, but the framework is up for a lot of great features we can look forward to. Let's get started!
Hey, Canada! Start saving your loonies, Google Glass Explorer Edition is coming your way. Well, that might be a little premature, but the evidence is mounting that our friends to the north will soon have the option to order their very own face-mounted computer. A Glass Explorer by the name of Brian Buquoi recently came across some clues that make the future pretty clear. The first item of interest came from the XE21 firmware, which included an image named regulatory_info_canada.png picturing an Industry Canada (IC) license number. By some stroke of luck, Brian received a replacement Glass unit this week with a card further detailing that the Explorer Edition has received regulatory approval in Canada.
At the Google I/O 2014 keynote, Sundar Pichai took to the stage to let us know that the L release of Android is set to make massive improvements in security for the enterprise as well as regular users. The Washington Post has received word from Google that gives us another glimpse of what we should expect in the next version. It seems that devices shipping with Android L will have disk encryption enabled by default. The move is pegged as a step to prevent law enforcement officers from obtaining information from phones and tablets without an owner's consent. Apple just made the same change in iOS 8, released earlier today.
Just days after the Explorer Edition of Google's first wearable device made its way onto the US Play Store, the Glass development team is starting to roll out yet another in a long history of updates. This time we're looking at XE21.0, which appears to be on the smaller side based on the changelog. Only two noteworthy details made it onto the list: faster updates for Google Now cards and accident indicators during Navigation, provided by Waze.
Many moons ago, a plucky little game company named Rovio decided that a hungry wolf wasn't the only thing that could blow down the homes of snarky pigs — airborne fowl would also join in the on destruction. In subsequent lunar cycles, those homicidal kamikaze birds would continue to bring their particular breed of catastrophe down upon on the poor, defenseless porkbellies; and in turn, generate many money-dollars for the twisted jerks that inspired them. The loathsome avians are back to carry out more dastardly plots in Angry Birds Stella.
Just about every major electronics manufacturer has something to show off at IFA 2014, and Acer is no exception. Amidst announcements for a handful of new laptop models, a few tablets made it on stage for a little bit of time in the spotlight. In a creative twist, the two Android tablets featured during the presentation were equipped with significantly different processors. Acer's Iconia One 8 is packing a quad-core processor from Intel while the Iconia Tab 10 is equipped with a MediaTek quad-core processor.
There's nothing like spoiling a surprise just hours before it becomes official, we're sorry. (Not really.) Samsung is set to announce its latest addition to the Note series of phones later today at IFA in Berlin. As we've seen many times in the past, secrets rarely wait to be told, and an image of the brand new handset has already made its way out into the world. But the image reveals a special treat: Samsung is having twins! As we can see from the promotional graphic, a pair of flagships will be appearing at the announcement today. The first, as we already expected, is the Galaxy Note 4. Alongside it will be a brand new device called the Galaxy Note Edge, featuring a curved display that wraps around to the edge of the phone.
Desk space is a valuable commodity for most of us, and the last thing anybody wants to do is sacrifice a huge area to put down a second keyboard. On the other hand, who among us doesn't hate to switch back and forth between the keyboard and your phone while working and responding to text messages? If this is a familiar feeling, Logitech's just announced K480 Bluetooth keyboard might fit your not-so-uncommon demands. It's designed to connect with up to 3 devices simultaneously, and switch between them with the turn of a dial.
Emoji are a staple in conversations for many, many people. They offer a colorful, language-agnostic way to convey thoughts and intent that can’t always come across in a wall of text. Instant messaging is the most common home to these little pictograms, but it's not unheard of for them to appear elsewhere, particularly within contact names. Unfortunately, when Emoji are used to decorate contacts in Gmail, it can interfere with the syncing service and prevent those contacts from crossing between devices.
Let's be honest, busy people don't have time to trudge through long books made of mostly filler. Unfortunately, publishers know they can't put a high price on a 40-page book. In the end, authors are stuck building a lavish sea of meaningless words around the simple concepts they want to convey. That's where Blinkist comes in. It's a service that boils popular non-fiction books down to their most formative and salient points. Think of it like Cliffs Notes, but even shorter and not funded entirely by high school students. Blinkist has been around for about a year with a website and iOS app, but now its making a debut on Android.